Assistant for the Alien Prince by Tammy Walsh
Zai
Her body waswarm and comforting.
I pulled her in so close I could feel her heartbeat.
If I could pull her in and make her part of me, I would.
Couldn’t she see why I was sad?
Why the news of the baby, the truth that it wasn’t mine, only came as partial relief?
There was no law in our land that would force me to marry the mysterious woman from my past, whether she’d birthed our child or not.
Still, if I chose that route, I would have lost the tribe leaders’ support and that, in the long term, would cost me the throne.
Worse, I would have lost the public’s positive opinion of me.
I would forever be the prince who impregnated a female and didn’t accept responsibility for my actions.
How could anyone respect a ruler like that?
I know I couldn’t.
Through all this, there had been one other option that no one gave voice to but was there all the same.
To abdicate the throne and let the tribe leaders decide who would be king.
I could have lived a quiet but comfortable life, having enough resources to support the female and our child…
But they wouldn’t live with me.
I wouldn’t allow myself to suffer for the rest of my life because of one stupid mistake.
I would have been free to live my life however I wanted…
With whoever I wanted
I could have enjoyed the kind of freedom usually only afforded to the average Ev’vat on the street.
It was a strange sensation, to know the only way I could live freely was to give up the one duty I’d been raised to perform my entire life.
So, learning the child wasn’t mine meant my duty was still there to be performed, and potentially if things didn’t go to plan, failed.
“There’s something about the situation I don’t understand,” I said. “Why would she chose to take the DNA test when she knew it would come back negative?”
“Maybe she didn’t know,” Jessica said. “Maybe she really thought the child was yours. Or maybe she just hoped he was. You can’t blame a girl for hoping.”
“It’s a criminal offense to claim something untrue against your king,” I said sternly.
Jessica waved a hand as if I was being ridiculous.
“Bah! She didn’t know what she was doing. She was only trying to do what she thought was best.”
I wasn’t so sure I could be so trusting.
“Maybe.”
Rer came to the door.
“Is everything all right?” he said.
“Yes, thanks,” Jessica said. “We just had some good news.”
The father looked relieved too.
“That’s great. I feared it was Fari’s cooking. She forgets not all species are so used to our spicy food. Or her cooking, for that matter.”
He glanced guiltily over his shoulders before continuing.
“I’ve been eating it for years and I still struggle to keep it down sometimes.”
I reached into my pocket and fingered the envelope I’d come out to the farm to deliver.
Did I really want to do this? I thought.
I decided I did and handed him the envelope.
“I have something for you,” I said. “It’s an invitation to my Pairing Ceremony. I don’t have many personal invitations to hand out. You will be my guests of honor. I wouldn’t be who I am today without you. I wouldn’t even be alive.”
Rer took the envelope and ran a finger over the embossed lettering.
“The royal seal,” he said.
It took a moment for the full meaning to sink in.
His eyes flicked up to me.
“The royal seal!”
He stumbled back and was about to collapse when I caught him.
Rer immediately pushed me away and dropped to his hands and knees.
“Don’t,” I said. “Stand, please, my friend. You never have to bow to me.”
He was slow in getting to his feet.
“I told Fari I recognized you that day I found you in your shuttle! I told her! And she said I couldn’t recognize anyone because I didn’t know anyone! She’s going to pitch a fit when she learns the truth!”
“Well,” I said, “we’d best get it over with then.”
As Rer was the most laidback of the family, I feared how the others would react.
There was no time like the present.
And no present time was worse.
